


The Grail War

by extremelyperturbed



Category: Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (Anime 2014), Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Drama, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 20:57:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11239056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extremelyperturbed/pseuds/extremelyperturbed
Summary: In the present day, seven teams, consisting of a Master (usually a mage) and a Servant (usually a legendary or historical heroic spirit), fight to win the Grail, which is said to grant any wish.  Only one team can win.This story casts the characters from Hannibal in various roles and does not use characters from the anime.  Also, things proceed differently from the anime as different Servants are used and the character of Hannibal will have different skills & equipment at their disposal.





	The Grail War

"Something on your mind?"

Beverly turned to her friend Will, who was sitting next to her at a lunch table at their high school. "Why?"

"You've been kind of quiet lately. That's not like you," said Will.

"I have to work on a project. It's family related." Her statement was vague but no lie. 

"Any way I could help? You know I'm pretty good at fixing things."

"It's not that kind of project. Besides, I know you've been busy fixing things on the cheap for spending money." The athletic clubs got the lions' share of funding so other clubs were left trying to squeeze use out of what equipment they did get. 

"Yeah, well."

"The principal's paying you, right?" While most of Will's customers were other students, the principal would occasionally throw him an odd job.

"Of course, he is."

"Where does he get the money?"

"The maintenance budget. I've been asked to work on the projector."

Beverly rolled her eyes. "He needs to sell it for scrap." The machine had started to smoke while projecting an ancient sex education film. Much snark was enjoyed by everybody in the class, especially Brian and Jimmy. "It's about time Ms. Purnell joined the twenty-first century. Everybody else is using a computer and hooking it up to the big TV."

"I told him I wanted twenty dollars just to look at it. I warned him it might be a lost cause."

"How is your dad?"

"He's off on another business trip." He had gotten a job on a fishing boat out east and would be away for a few weeks. 

"He shouldn't constantly leave you by yourself."

"I actually prefer it when he's out."

"You haven't eaten any of your lunch."

"It's bad, even for school lunch." It was a corn dog with wilted salad and a carton of low-fat milk.

"You could bring a bag lunch."

"That's extra work. I'm busy as it is."

***

When Beverly got home, she noticed a message on her answering machine. She pushed the button. 

Chilton's voice said, "It's me, Frederick. The deadline is coming very soon. Be sure to summon your Servant. The ranks of the Masters must be filled. There are only two slots left. If you don't want to participate then you must go to the church per the rules of the Holy Grail War . . ."

"Yes, yes," said Beverly as she erased the message. What an annoying priest, she thought. Even though he was technically her guardian after her parents died in the last Grail war, he basically had limited interaction with her, often going months without bothering her. She couldn't wait until she was eighteen so she could take complete control of her life and finances. 

She went to her study room and pushed her books and furniture so there was a large clear area. She drew the diagram on the floor and pulled the feather out of her pocket. It was a catalyst for the Servant she wanted to summon and in her other hand was jewels that stored mana, energy that could be used to power magic. "For the elements, silver and iron. For the foundation, stone and the Archduke of Contracts. For the ancestor, my great master, Katzenberg. Close the gates of the cardinal directions. Come forth from the Crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom. Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me. I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world. That I shall defeat all evil in the world. You seven heavens, clad in the three great words of power, come forth from the circle of binding . . . Guardian of the Scales."

A burst of light filled the room and she heard a thud in the next room. She ran out of the room and was stopped in her tracks. There was a young man who had white hair, pale skin and a waist that was slim as his shoulders were broad. He was wearing a turban and wearing what appeared to be boots along with a robe. "Are you my Servant?"

"Are you my Master?" he said.

Beverly showed the marks that had appeared on the back of her right hand. 

"You seem to be rather young," he said.

"I may be young but I'm strong enough to summon you here."

"I acknowledge you as my Master. I was just pointing out that I have had much more battle experience so you might be better off letting me take the lead in that."

"I know that you're no novice at warfare but I intend to participate fully in this. Besides, it's not like other Masters will be staying by the pool drinking wine."

"Point taken."

"If you're doing this out of chivalry, please don't. I need to know what kind of Servant I've called."

"I am a Rider class."

"Rider?" said Beverly, trying to keep disappointment from her voice. She had been hoping to get a Saber class servant as they were the strongest. A Rider usually had other skills other than being able to ride their mount or drive their vehicle but often they were at disadvantage at fighting. 

The Servant smiled. "Please, don't be disappointed. The mount I manifest is as powerful and strong as any Servant. If you can manage the mana requirement, you will not regret having summoned me."

"I don't think we've introduced each other. I am Beverly Katz. And if I was given the proper catalyst, you are . . ."

"Prince Zal but you should call me Rider so it's harder for them to figure out who I am."

Beverly sighed in relief. "Tomorrow, I'll show you around the city. While we're out, don't call me Master, call me Beverly."

"If we're going to work together, I need to do more about you. How long have you been preparing for this?"

"If you're talking family-wise, generations. If you're talking me, then ten years."

"And your goal? Once you win the Grail, what wish do you want granted? It can give you anything you want. World domination . . ."

"I've read enough stories to know that these type of things are not something to toy with. I don't want to rule the world. I'm not a Marvel supervillain. Besides, it sounds like a lot of work."

Zal frowned. "Why then?"

"It's an accomplishment in and of itself. Also, I want to keep it out of the hands of the other Masters. Frederick, he's my guardian and supervisor of this fight, told me that one of the other Masters is sure to be from the Verger family. That family has a really bad reputation, especially in regards with Mason. There are persistent rumors that he's tortured children and gotten away with it because of his money and power. I have no intention of letting that kind of man get his hands on something like that."

"I find that a worthy goal. I am fortunate that I am your servant instead of his. Is there any other mage that we should spend special attention to?"

"I don't know yet."

***

"You're going to school today?" said Zal as they walked to her school. He was invisible but their pact allowed them to communicate without him being heard.

"Yes, it's a public place and nobody in their right mind wants an open fight with hundreds of witnesses."

"We may be dealing with people not in their right minds."

Beverly frowned. As she stepped unto the grounds of school, she felt the presence of a magical barrier. She found it disturbing and wondered if a mage knew of her presence at the school then thought it would be extremely sloppy for a high rank mage not to hide it. "You feel that?"

"Yes."

"We'll investigate this after school."

"Understood."

Beverly continued walking. She walked into a hallway and saw Will talking to Matthew, another student. Matthew had never made fun of or beaten up Will. On the other hand, he seemed to have an intense focus on Will that made even her, Brian and Jimmy uneasy. 

"I thought your report about The Iliad was really good," said Matthew.

"Um, thank you?" said Will, noticing the bandage wrapped around Matthew's right hand. "What happened to your hand?

Matthew looked surprised then he lifted up his right hand. "Oh, this. It's just a scratch. I was riding my bike and should have been paying more attention. I skidded and landed wrong. Nice of you to worry though."

Will saw Beverly and waved. "Hi, Bev."

"Hi."

"I have to go," said Will to Matthew. "You know, class . . ."

"See you later?"

"Yeah . . ." said Will as he walked away from him.

"Is he bothering you?" said Beverly once they were out of earshot.

"No, he just wanted to talk."

"I think he wants to be more than friends. He once asked me if I was your girlfriend. He seemed relieved when I said no."

"I've never led him on."

"I never said you did. All boys need to learn that just because you want something bad, it doesn't mean you get it or even deserve to get it. He'll just have to deal with it."

***

Later that night, Beverly went to the roof of one of the school buildings with Zal, invisible and trailing behind her. Beverly frowned at diagram on the floor that was only visible with the presence of magic. "There are seven of these around the school. When these are activated, it's going to melt every single human inside and turn their flesh and soul into mana," she said.

"Can you destroy it?"

"I can slow it down by erasing the markers but I'm sure whoever put it here will put it back again. The only person who could need this much mana is . . ."

"Another Servant."

"Also, that means they'll know that a Master is on campus."

"What are you doing?"

Beverly turned to see who said that. It was a man wearing a tunic, ancient Greek armo and holding a spear. "Did you do this?"

"No, I thought that it was either you or your white-haired friend." 

Crap, only a Servant could see Zal now, she thought. "Rider . . ."

Zal picked her up and jumped off the roof. They fell a short distance before landing on something soft and invisible that interrupted their fall and sent them rising in the sky.

The nameless attacker hefted his spear and it began glowing with power. He threw it at them only to have what was holding them up dodge the weapon. A blast of energy exploded above them. 

Beverly looked down below and saw someone run out of the building, presumably wondering what the noise was. It's Will, she thought as Will stepped under one of the lights surrounding the school building. I thought he'd have gone home by now. She saw the attacker jump down from the building. "Zal, we have to go down!"

**Author's Note:**

> http://www.crunchyroll.com/fatestay-night/episode-0-prologue-661413?p360=1 is the anime series this story is riffing on. It's based on a visual novel where you read for the most part but get to make decisions at various points which affect outcome. http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Fate/stay_night The first few paragraphs of this page does a good job of explaining the set up. 
> 
> I have not played the visual novel but did see the Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works which covers one path that the Visual Novel can go as well as Fate Zero. I recommend both highly. 
> 
> In the anime/game, Servants often differ from how they are normally portrayed. A few are even gender bent. More information regarding the War will be upcoming throughout the story as I learned it pretty cold from the anime. 
> 
> The casting spell Beverly uses is an edited version from the anime.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C4%81l has information about Prince Zal. His mount is the Simurgh.


End file.
